


Strawberries

by gwendee



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Aged Up, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Attempt at Humor, First Meetings, Gakushuu/Itona does not happen here folks, I couldn't resist a little bit of them though, Karma owns a strawberry farm, M/M, Stop coming after me for my weird ass AUs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25336594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwendee/pseuds/gwendee
Summary: Karma may not know everyone’s names in this town, but he’s been here long enough to know everyone’s faces, which is why he knows that the guy standing by the bar is not local.And wow, he better not be. Karma doesn’t think he’d forgive himself if someone this pretty was living in this town and Karma had never seen him before.Is Karma staring? Yeah, he is. Ooh, violet eyes. Welcome home.Written for Karushuu Week 2020 on tumblr! (Prompt: Strawberries)
Relationships: Akabane Karma/Asano Gakushuu, Mild Asano Gakushuu/Horibe Itona, Mild Kayano Kaede/Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 10
Kudos: 168





	Strawberries

**Author's Note:**

> "How many more strange half-finished AUs are you going to make Gwen" idk maybe like 3 more
> 
> Karushuu week is underway! You can check out the [tumblr](https://karushuu--week.tumblr.com/post/620552430641430528/karushuu-week-2020-prompts) for more updates (A message from our sponsors that there might be some problems with the tag/hashtag function on tumblr, so if you have submitted a work but you did not see it reposted, could you try again and send a submission straight to the ask box?)

**Karushuu Week Day 5:**

**Strawberries**

“Your obsession with strawberries is concerning.”

Karma sighs dramatically. “Just goes to show what you don’t know, Nagisa. These babies are my  _ livelihood _ . If I don’t love them, what else could I love?”

Nagisa opens his mouth.

“No,” Karma wags a finger in Nagisa’s face. “Shut up. I know you’re going to say something like I need more friends and hobbies.”

Nagisa rolls his eyes. “You  _ do _ need more friends and hobbies.”

“No I don’t,” Karma disagrees. “I have plenty of friends. You’re my friend. I read comics and watch TV in my downtime.”

“Fine,” Nagisa says, rolling his eyes. “Be that way. I do wish to see you more often, though. Just to make sure you’re not becoming a hermit.”

“I see you every sunday.”

“The farmer’s market isn’t considered  _ hanging out _ with us. That’s work.”

\--

Being a strawberry farmer is not what Karma expected of his future when he was a kid. He didn’t exactly remember with specificity what his aspirations were, but he’s sure they were boring typical kid stuff like being an astronaut or a fighter jet pilot or something like that.

And that's fine! There can only be so many astronauts in the world. But Karma loves his job and there can never be too many strawberries.

He has friends! Nagisa just doesn’t know what he’s talking about. 

Nagisa himself runs a vegetable farm, which he took over from his mother. Kayano was a city-type who got weary of her fast-paced action-packed life (quite literally, too) and had retired early from an acting career to move to their small town to help Nagisa pluck weeds or whatever. Rio has an army of bees at her beck and call, and she trades quarts of honey for cartons of strawberries with Karma so they can make fancy breakfast spreads or something like that. It’s a hit with Kayano’s fancy city friends, but Karma’s too busy for brunch. 

He has a nice routine down pat. Automation in the farming industry is making his life a lot easier. He has Itona and his fancy engineering degree to keep it in check for him - Itona, another city kid down on his luck when his uncle dumped him in the middle of nowhere, who Karma let live with him because Kayano and Nagisa have no space in their house because they’re trying to make a baby or whatever it is that couples do these days, and Rio claims that she’s trying to make a baby too but Karma calls bullshit on that because he may be from the countryside but he’s not uneducated,  _ Nakamura, you’re a fucking lesbian. _

Rio tells him to stick a sock in it. Whatever. Itona’s a great farmhand anyways, and bees can’t be automated. 

\--

“One of my friends from Tokyo is coming down next weekend,” Kayano says over dinner one evening. “He’s nice. Well, actually, he’s not  _ that _ nice? But I told him to be on his best behavior.”

“Ugh, why,” Karma laments, and Kayano kicks him under the table.

“I haven’t seen him in a long time,” Kayano says. “I invited him for a week, because our little harvest festival is coming up soon.”

“He’s not going to want to move here or something, right?” Karma wrinkles his nose. “I don’t have any more room in my place, you know.”

“You have three guest rooms but you refuse to take guests,” Itona says.

“Don’t worry, Karma,” Rio says. “I’m sure he’d be jumping for the chance to move in with you once he meets you and your  _ stunning personality _ .”

“Fuck you, I’m a charmer.” Karma sticks his tongue out at her.

Kayano rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry. He’ll be staying at our place. Sorry you’ll have to tolerate him alone, Itona.”

“Bummer,” Itona drawls. 

“Who’s he, anyways?” Rio says. “You know him, Itona?”

“I think you all have it backwards,” Itona says. “Why do you think all city people know each other? Shouldn’t the stereotype be all small town people know each other?”

Rio snorts. “Karma knows like, maybe three more people outside of this room.”

“Excuse you,” Karma sniffs. “I know Hazama. And Terasaka. And Muramatsu. And Yoshida. That’s already four people.”

“That doesn’t count,” Itona nudges him. “You know them because they’re my friends.”

“It so does count,” Karma defends. “I do know them, and they’re not in this room, so there.”

“Anyways,” Kayano says. “His name is Gakushuu Asano.”

“Gakushuu? Sounds pretentious,” Karma says, the same time Itona says, “guess Rio’s right,” and everyone turns to stare at him.

Itona snorts. “You know, Kayano, not-so-nice is a not so nice description of him.”

Kayano giggles. “Ooh, you do know him?”

Karma blinks. “So you’re both friends with an asshole?”

“We’re friends with you,” Kayano says, and Itona says, “actually we dated for a bit,” and everyone turns to stare at him again.

Kayano shrieks, delighted. “Itona Horibe!”

“Oh, wow,” Nagisa says. He turns to Kayano. “From what you’ve told me, he doesn’t seem like Itona’s type. Uh, no offence, Itona.”

“None taken. And you’re right. That’s why we broke up.”

Kayano leans forward. “When?!”

“Like two months in college,” Itona says. “It was nothing much. We had a class together, went out a couple of times, and then decided we weren’t the best match.”

“This is amazing,” Kayano says gleefully. “I can’t wait until he gets here.”

\--

Karma lets Itona shirk work to go to their town’s tiny train station the day that Kayano’s friend and  _ Itona’s ex _ , what the hell, is due to arrive. Karma’s a great boss like that. Karma also can’t imagine whoever would date Itona, oh god.

Not because he thinks Itona is undateable or anything like that. He’s pretty sure Terasaka has eyes for him, and he gossips with Hazama about it. They’re cute together. It’s just that Terasaka is the very definition of a country bumpkin and from Kayano and Itona’s description, this Asano guy is supposed to be some Wall Street Businessman type. He does  _ not _ see it working out, nope.

(Then again, they did break up. So technically it  _ didn’t _ work out.)

In late afternoon, he gets a text from Kayano asking him to go down to a bar they frequent. Asano’s there, she says, and she wants to get everyone introduced. And Karma has to come to say hi in person or the first impression Asano is going to get of Karma is from ridiculous stories everyone would tell about him, which, is a pretty good incentive to haul his ass back inside to get cleaned up.

That, and Karma is very curious. 

So he gets washed up, puts on a nice shirt at Kayano’s behest, please dress like a normal person. The only reason Karma doesn’t spite her is because her least favorite shirt (the stupid strawberry pun one that Kayano’s sister gave him that’s probably the ugliest thing Karma has ever seen, but the face Kayano makes whenever she sees him in it is worth it) is still in his laundry pile. 

The bar is crowded as it is every weekend night. He doesn’t spy any of his friends here but he hears Terasaka’s boisterous laughter coming from somewhere in the back. He makes the beeline for the bar first, because he wants something cool and strawberry flavored. Whatever,  _ Nagisa _ , he just really likes strawberries and  _ no _ , he doesn’t see too much of it every day. Is there even such a thing as too much strawberry?

Karma may not know everyone’s names in this town, but he’s been here long enough to know everyone’s faces in the sort of “hey, yeah, I know this guy lives somewhere near Hara” type of way. Which is why he knows that the guy standing by the bar is not local. 

And wow, he better not be. Karma doesn’t think he’d forgive himself if someone this pretty was living in this town and Karma had never seen him before.

Is Karma staring? Yeah, he is. Oops, the guy is staring back now. Ooh, violet eyes. Welcome home.

“You must be Asano,” Karma says.

“Ah, word sure travels fast in a small town,” must-be-Asano says. 

“I’m one of Kayano’s friends,” Karma says. He extends a hand to shake and Asano takes it. “She didn’t go blurting out to the rooftops if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Asano laughs. Very nice.

Is this who Itona dated? Wow, okay. Itona has good taste. Maybe Karma should listen to him more when he critiques Karma's brilliant wood sign painting skills.

“You must be Karma, then,” Asano says.

“They better not have started telling embarrassing stories about me.”

“Only a little." 

Then Kayano’s little green head pops up. “I see you guys have met!” She chirps. “And here I thought you ran away, Asano. Still suck at holding your alcohol?”

Asano coughs, his ears a little red. “Please,” he says. 

“Itona beat you at a drinking game back then, and he has the lowest tolerance out of all of us. What is in the city water?”

“You’re from the city too!” Asano protests. Kayano laughs and shoves him back in the direction of the main group, and when Asano walks out of earshot she turns to Karma.

“Thanks for coming,” she says, and gives him a peck on the cheek. “But I know you’re afraid of social interaction so you can go if you want. Unless…” then she waggles her eyebrows and elbows Karma in the ribs, “you totally want to stay and flirt with Ah-sa-no a little more?”

“Kayano!” Karma splutters, pushing her away. “That’s Itona’s ex!”

“Yes,” Kayano giggles, “which is why Itona is perfectly good authority to say that you two are exactly each other’s types. Now come on. Since you’re not running away, you can help carry drinks.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was almost a stardew valley AU (which, before you ask, I did play at one point in time.)
> 
> For those wondering, for this (and my previous oneshot submissions) there is a possibility that if inspiration strikes, i might pick it up and turn it into a multichapter! Who knows? Stay tuned!


End file.
